Newark Mayor Cory Booker Won’t Challenge Gov. Chris Christie, Will Run for U.S. Senate in 2014

Newark NJ Mayor Cory Booker won’t challenge Gov. Chris Christie, but will instead run for the U.S. Senate, ending months of speculation on what his move would be. Either way, he was good to the city of Newark.

Booker, long considered the Democrats’ best hope to beat Christie in 2013, could now face U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg in a 2014 Democratic primary, although it is unclear what Lautenberg plans to do.

The decision by Booker essentially reshapes the field of Democrats who will now take a shot at the popular Republican governor. Christie’s post-Sandy polling numbers are virtually unmatched in a state with roughly 700,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans.